Notes On Webpage Design

A website should be optimized to be as functional and aesthetically pleasing as possible in order to give the best user experience. To achieve this several principles must be followed.

1. Purpose. Every webpage should be created with its purpose in mind and aimed toward that purpose.

   Websites tend to share these common purposes:

   • Describing Expertise
   • Building Your Reputation
   • Generating Leads
   • Sales and After Care

   I shall try an example:

   Nathan Babnick, PhD in Breaking Stuff

   Greetings! I am Nate and I have a reputation of liking planetary nebulae, potatoes, and my brooms broken. I have created this webpage to generate leads and sell all the meteorites I don't like. I offer a 30 second return policy on every one I sell. I would like my dad to tell me if I should delete this example.

2. Simplicity. Make the website as simple as possible to increase functionality. The following are designing principles to gain simplicity.
   • Color is very powerful. Choose a color palette with less than 5 colors that fits your website and its purpose. Complimentary colors and pleasing color combinations will improve the user experience.
   • Choose appropriate type. The topography of the website is very important. Use no more than 3 fonts. Don't get too crazy with fonts. Have mercy upon your reader. Use simple fonts.
   • Imagery is the most powerful conveyor of personality. Imagery includes still photography, video, graphics, and illustrations. High-quality imagery is paramount as it is the biggest impression the user has of the website.
3. Navigation. Navigation is paramount to the user experience and can utterly destroy their opinion of your website-making skills. Keep this wayfinding system simple, intuitive, and consistent if you want non-frustrated users.
4. F-shaped pattern reading. The F-shaped pattern reading is the natural way that people (that read English, anyway) scan text on a website. People see the stuff on the upper left region of the page to most. Lay out your webpages to conform to this.
5. Visual Hierarchy. Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of website content in order of importance. This is done with all sorts of things, like size, color, imagery, contrast, typography, whitespace, texture, and style. Establish a focal point, where the most important information is.
6. Content. This may seem a bit obvious but it is the combination of good website design and good content that makes a good website.
7. Grid-based layout. Tables are looking good! They give structure and order to the webpage and align everything and make it look neat and tidy. Overall the website becomes more aesthetically pleasing.
8. Load Time. Most people get annoyed at your massive website if it fails to load in 3 seconds and just leave. It is generally expected for it to load in less than 2 seconds. Downsizing images help.
9. Mobile Friendly. Make your website be able to adjust to different screen sizes.

Source: https://www.feelingpeaky.com/9-principles-of-good-web-design/